Lecture 9

Performance Issues: Fatigue

Question . . .
 Why should a girder that can sustain a static load of 12
tonnes fail if a mass on only 3 tonnes was raised and
lowered onto it 3 x 106 times?

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Learning Outcomes
 Define the term fatigue
 Explain S-N curves
 Distinguish and discuss high cycle fatigue (HCF) and low
cycle fatigue (LCF)
 Describe ways in which fatigue life can be predicted
 Describe ways in which fatigue life can be extended
 Apply the above knowledge in Assignment 2

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Fatigue Definition
 Fatigue is failure that occurs in structures that undergo repeated cyclic
stress, for example bridges and connecting rods.

 In fatigue it is possible for failure to occur at stresses much lower than

the yield strength

 Fatigue is responsible for about 90% of all metallic component failures,

and it is also possible for polymers and ceramics to fail by fatigue.

 It is catastrophic in that it occurs without warning because it is a brittle

fracture (with little or no plastic deformation) that occurs in
materials that are normally ductile.

 Some examples of Fatigue loads – Rail Track, Rolling stock,

engines and airframes

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Types of Fatigue Loading Modes
 Reversed Stress Cycle

 Equal magnitude of max tensile stress to minimum

compressive stress

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Fatigue Loading Modes Contd..
 Repeated Stress Cycle

 In which maximum and minimum stresses are

asymmetrical relative to the zero stress level

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Fatigue Loading Modes Contd..
 Random Stress Cycle

 In which the maximum tension stress and minimum

compression tress are random

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Parameters for fatigue loading modes

 Mean Stress m  Range of Stress ∆

Stress Ratio (R)

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Amplitude of Cyclic Loading

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Fatigue

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Aloha Flight 243
 19-year-old Boeing 737

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Fatigue Testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH9k9fWaFrs

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Fatigue Testing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DykiHVrVkKg

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Testing for Fatigue Resistance
 Wöhler Rotating Rod Test
 Common method of testing for fatigue resistance in
materials.

Testing-Stress and cycle Testing- after number of cycles

application the specimen may fail

 The results are stress amplitudes (max and min), and

number of cycles to failure for each of the specimen.
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Rotating and bending test

specimen compression on top

motor counter
bearing bearing

flex coupling
tension on bottom

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S-N Curve Non-Ferrous Alloys
 Fatigue strength: the
maximum stress a material can
withstand without failing by
fatigue for a given number of
cycles (N1)
 Fatigue life : the number of
stress cycles that will cause
fatigue failure at a given stress
(S1)
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S-N Curve Ferrous Alloys
 For some ferrous and titanium alloys, the S-N curve becomes
horizontal at higher N values - there is a limiting stress level
below which fatigue failure will not occur.

 This is called the fatigue limit, and is the largest stress at which
the fluctuating stress will not cause fatigue failure indefinitely.
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Low Cycle Fatigue vs. High-Cycle
Fatigue

Low Cycle Fatigue High Cycle Fatigue

104

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Low Cycle Fatigue vs. High-Cycle
Fatigue
LCF
 Plastic Deformations
 Crack generated, typically at
surface
 Longer cycle times
 air frames, nuclear
reactors, turbine
components;
 anything subject to
occasional overload
 Modern understanding
HCF
 Elastic Deformations
 Low amplitude stresses
 Stress concentrators pre-exist
 Changes in shape, material, etc.
 Defects, porosity, inclusions
 Machining marks; scratches;
wear marks
 Cycles accumulate rapidly
 Rotating, vibrating, wheels, axles,
engine components
 Most attention historically
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Fatigue Failure Process-3 Steps
 There are three steps in fatigue failure:
1. Crack initiation - a small crack forms
2. Crack propagation - the crack grows slowly, each stress
cycle lengthening the crack a small amount
3. Final failure - occurs by fast fracture

Initiation Propagation Final crack

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Fatigue Failure

Fatigue Life

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Example Question: Fatigue
 A cylindrical steel bar (S-N curve given) with diameter of 12 mm
is subjected to a repeated compression-tension stress along its
axis.
 Determine the minimum load amplitude that would cause fatigue
failure if applied to the bar.

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Example Question- Fatigue -Solution
 From the S-N curve, the stress amplitude at the fatigue
limit is 320MPa.
 Stress is given by:

 Force at fatigue limit is:

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Paris Law and Total Fatigue life of a
Component
 Crack Growth Rate is a function of the stress Level, the crack size
and material properties.
 Relationship is expressed in terms of the stress intensity factors(K)
called as Paris Law:

 Total Fatigue Life (Nf), it is derived as:

 The equation is derived using the initial crack length(a0 )and the critical
crack length(ac) and the number of cycles to failure(Nf) due to stage II
crack growth region.
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Fatigue life –Expression Limitation
 Paris Law is only valid in the crack propagation stage
 Does not include crack initiation or rapid fracture and
therefore the fatigue life calculated should be taken as an
estimate of fatigue life.
 More accurate when the crack initiation stage is small
(under high stresses).
 This expression also assumes that is constant - which
is not true in many applications

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Factors Affecting Fatigue Life
 Stress Level
 Fatigue life is highly dependent on and R,

 Surface Effects
 Surface finish is important because in fatigue, cracks usually start
at the surface.

 Environment
 Thermal fatigue: Fluctuating temperatures can cause thermal stresses
due to thermal expansion of the components.
 Corrosion fatigue: If the component is exposed to a corrosive
environment, pits caused by corrosion can act as initiation sites and
corrosion can also increase the crack growth rate.

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Fatigue Loading of Cracked
Components

Cyclic stress intensity range The range ΔK increases with time

under constant cyclic stress because
the crack grows in length
Improving Fatigue Life
 Impose compressive surface stresses (to suppress
surface cracks from growing)

--Method 1: shot peening --Method 2: carburizing

shot
C-rich gas
put
surface
into
compression

 Remove stress concentrators.

bad better

bad better

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Design for Fatigue
 Safe Life
 Determine life for which a
small number (1 in 10000)
are in Stage I (crack
initiation)
 Replace all
components/parts
 Fail Safe
 Precautions to avoid part
failure being catastrophic
 Redundancy
 Infinite Life
 Keep stress level below
fatigue strength (endurance
limit)
 Damage Tolerant
 Assume newly
manufactured parts have
cracks
 Control propagation of
assumed largest crack
 Fatigue Life
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S-N Curves for Polymers

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Endurance Limit – Strength Chart
Endurance limit is the most important property
characterizing fatigue strength

Metals/Polymers

Glasses/Ceramics

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Fatigue: Summary
 Critical to practical use of structural materials.
 Fatigue affects most structural components, even statically
loaded ones, Golden Gate Bridge, Eiffel Tower
 Well characterized empirically, with S-N curves.
 An analytical expression was proposed for fatigue crack
propagation(growth) rate in terms of the stress intensity
range(K) at the crack tip
 Integration of the expression yields an equation whereby fatigue
life(Nf) may be estimated.
 Connection between dislocation behavior and fatigue life offers
exciting research opportunities, i.e. physically based models are
lacking!

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Documentation
Documentation:

Provide detailed evidence of the key

materials properties related to the
design constraints, objectives and free
variables identified at the translation
stage for the top two ranked material.
http://www.matweb.com/search/PropertySearch.aspx
http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6615
 37

Further Reading
 Callister and Rethwisch (2011). Materials Science and
Engineering (8th Edition). Chapter 8.
 Ashby, Shercliff and Cebon(2007). Materials Engineering;
Science, Processing and Design, (2nd Edition) Chapter 9